


Labyrinth

by Shwoo



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8855998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shwoo/pseuds/Shwoo
Summary: Broke His Crown AU in which the group have to go a little further through the labyrinth to find Betty.





	

The first time Marceline had heard Simon talk about a labyrinth in his brain, she'd thought he meant some kind of bug that crawled into people's noses and made them do crazy things without meaning to. Later, she'd learned that a labyrinth was just another word for maze, and that he'd been speaking metaphorically.

Now she realised she'd been wrong about that, too. She still didn't know if there was a labyrinth inside Simon's mind, but there was definitely one inside the crown, and that was practically the same thing these days.

She and Bonnibel had met up with a version of Simon who lived inside the crown, as well as a real dinosaur boy that they'd to assume had worn the crown back in the Cretaceous period. This thing was ancient.

Now the four of them were following the weird candy-cane-coloured lines on the wall to their source, which was further away than Marceline had thought. They'd been walking for a while now, and the labyrinth seemed to go on forever. At least it gave her more time to talk to catch up with Simon, the way he'd used to be. The Simon in the crown was quiet, intellectual, and had even found another kid to take care of. And this one was already named Gunther, so Simon shouldn't have any trouble remembering what to call him.

Actually, that was mean. Simon was doing his best. Marceline doubted she'd be as coherent as Simon still was, if she'd had to suffer a thousand years of crown torture.

But she was worried about how Simon was doing in the real world, outside the crown. The head injury probably wouldn't be a problem, but Marceline had never seen this magical crown infection thing before. There was no telling what it could be doing to his mind.

Simon ran to catch up with Bonnibel, who was walking ahead of them. "Hey. I'm sorry I called you Betty's assistant."

Bonnibel glanced at him for a second. "It's okay."

"It's just... Somehow you remind me of her," Simon continued, gesturing vaguely. 

"Yeah, I'll bet," muttered Bonnibel.

"Huh?" said Simon. When Bonnibel didn't elaborate, he said "Hey, are you some kind of royalty? Have we gone back to the feudal system?"

That was Simon. Always trying to figure out what was happening, even when understanding was more or less impossible. He'd described it as his Achilles heel, which of course had made her think of an actual foot.

"I'm Princess Bubblegum," said Bonnibel, who sounded like she just wanted to get this over with. "And my kingdom is not 'feudal'."

"Yeah, it's more like a an authoritarian dictatorship, right, Bonnibel?" said Marceline. Declaring yourself princess of a kingdom full of people you'd created yourself was so... Bonnie.

Bonnibel shot her a glare. "It's a monarchy. I care about my people-- I'm not a dictator!"

"Well, any kingdom of a friend of Marceline's is a friend-kingdom of mine," said Simon diplomatically. He leaned over and added in a stage whisper "Hey, I hope you don't let Marceline bum off of your kingdom too often."

"Shut up, Simon!" said Marceline, swinging in his direction.

Simon chuckled.

Marceline was glad Bonnibel was getting a chance to meet the real Simon. Instead of... Marceline stopped that thought before it could finish. There was only one Simon, and he was the real Simon, no matter what he called himself now. You could see flashes of his old self shining through if you knew where to look, even when he was being an obnoxious bore. The Ice King wasn't the "fake" Simon, he was just... sick. In the brain. If she kept thinking in terms of real Simons and fake Simons, it would be like she'd lost him forever all over again.

But what if... The maze rearranged itself for the hundredth time, shaking Marceline out of her thoughts. She was going to start obsessing unless she distracted herself somehow, so she said "Is it just me, or are there more plants around here than before?"

There were more plants. And less of the big, red crystals sticking out of the grown. The plants were starting to cover the walls, making it look like they were in some messed up hedge maze.

Gunther looked around nervously, then hugged himself. "I sure hope we don't have to go through here."

"Why not?" said Bonnibel. She reached out and plucked a leaf from one of the plants as they passed by. "If only we could take this back to the lab."

"It's not the plants that--" Simon began.

Gunther screamed and pointed behind them. Marceline turned to see a huge, fluffy feathered dinosaur with its mouth wide open lumber around the nearest corner.

Simon picked up Gunter, who'd frozen from fear, put him on his back, and yelled "Run!"

Marceline started to run, then said, "Wait, what am I doing?" It had almost felt like the old days for a second, with the horrifying danger and Simon yelling at her to run. Before she'd eaten all those vampire souls and gained all those superpowers.

She half turned, and Bonnibel dragged her along. "Hey!" yelled Marceline. She planted her feet on the ground. "Bonnie! What are you doing! Let me go!"

"Just trust me!" said Bonnibel.

Marceline scowled, but she let Bonnibel pull her along.

"Quick, this way!" said Simon, ducking past so many junctions and corners that Marceline and Bonnibel almost couldn't keep up. As they ran, the plants began to cover the walls completely, and close out the sky overhead.

Finally, they ducked right, and the dinosaur turned left. They stood perfectly still as the stomping footsteps faded away.

When she was sure they were safe, Marceline turned on Bonnibel. "Why did you stop me? I could have taken that thing apart!"

"Actually..." said Bonnibel. "You couldn't have. We're not actually here, remember. I didn't program the interface to simulate your vampire powers. You would have been killed."

Marceline was torn between being offended that Bonnibel hadn't bothered to include her powers, and trying to figure out what Bonnibel was talking about. "Wait, if we're not really here, how could I get killed?"

"Okay, you wouldn't be killed exactly, but you would be booted from the simulation, and you'd have to start all over again from the beginning of the maze," said Bonnibel. "It was the only entry point I could find."

"Oh... fine," said Marceline. She remembered something, and glanced down at the ground. "How can you say my powers don't work here? I'm floating right now!" She did it so often that she almost didn't notice it anymore. It was that convenient.

"You can float because your orientation in simulation space is already accounted for," said Bonnibel, like she was saying something that explained anything. "Otherwise neither of us would be able to move!"

"Uh... could you guys keep your voices down?" said Gunther, who sounded a lot more subdued than he had when they'd met him.

Marceline had nearly forgotten they were there. Bonnibel could be distractingly infuriating at times. "Sure, sorry, Gunther." She looked at Simon. "And I'm sorry you had to see that, Simon."

"Oh, I've seen worse," said Simon. "I used to work in academia, remember?"

"I just want to know why there was a T-Rex in here," said Bonnibel.

"No way!" said Marceline, looking over her shoulder and half expecting to still see the dinosaur. "That's what T-Rexes really looked like?" She'd never liked the idea of feathered dinosaurs, although Bonnibel had tried to convince her that it was just Science, but now she could see how they might be scary.

Gunther looked down. "It's... one of my fears." He perked up abruptly, and added "We're in the Skógurinn of Ótta. It's where everyone's fears hang out."

"The Skógurinn of Ótta?" said Bonnibel, mimicking his pronunciation flawlessly. "You know that's redundant, right?"

"Everyone's fears?" said Marceline. Including Simon's? Did he even have any fears?

"Sveinn came up with the name," said Simon. "Gunther says this place was a wasteland before Sveinn arrived."

Gunther nodded. "He's nice, but his mind is scary."

"It may just be because he only wore the crown once," said Simon. He sighed. "If my understanding of the function of the crown is correct, he must have died soon after."

That was true. The crown only mutated the first person to wear it after its last bearer had died. That had always been Simon's theory. Which meant that everyone here except Simon was dead.

That was too depressing to dwell on, so Marceline said "Well, we better get out of here and find the Skorin of uh... Infected Circuita." She brushed some of the leaves aside, and found a few weak, pulsing signs of corruption on the labyrinth wall behind it.

"I hope it's not... in the forest," said Simon, looking around worriedly. "Oh, but we'll be fine. Don't worry."

Marceline remembered Simon saying that a lot, which had confused her at the time. It wasn't that she'd always felt safe. She'd been young, but not stupid. But he'd said stuff like that even when there didn't seem to be anything dangerous around. In hindsight, he'd probably been trying to convince himself.

Marceline couldn't say whether the pulses led further into the forest, or away from it. The plants seem equally thick in every direction. She hugged herself and said "I feel so vulnerable like this." She remembered last time she'd been without powers. "Oh, Simon! I gotta tell you about the time Bonnibel cured my v--"

"Hey, guys, look!" Gunther interrupted. He pointed at the sky, which was barely visible through the treetrops. "It's the puffin!"

Simon shielded his eyes, although there was no sun. "Oh yeah, you're right! What's she doing out here?"

A puffin dropped out of the sky, flapping its wings madly, and landed on Gunther's arm. It made a noise like a creaky door, and Simon and Gunther greeted it like it could understand them.

"This simulation is more complicated than I thought," commented Bonnibel, watching them talk.

"I sure didn't expect a golden circuit maze," said Marceline.

"Yeah, and these AI constructs are really well-developed," said Bonnibel. "They're practically people."

"AI constructs?" said Marceline. "You mean, Simon and the others?" She hoped that wasn't what Bonnibel meant.

"Well, yeah," said Bonnibel. "I figured the crown kept some kind of backup, but you can talk to them. They learn from each other."

"They're not AI constructs, Bonnibel," said Marceline. "They're people!"

Bonnibel shrugged. "Sure, if thinking that way makes you feel better."

That was so typical. Bonnibel spent so much time in the lab she probably talked to artificial AI constructs from the depths of her computer more than she talked to real people.

"Well, see you around," Simon was saying to the puffin.

"Bye!" said Gunter, waving with both hands.

The puffin creaked again, and flew away.

"That's the Puffin," said Gunther to Marceline and Bonnibel. "She wore the crown by accident a couple times in... Professor Petrikov, what year did you say she was from?"

"The Pleistocene," said Simon. He rubbed his chin. "Of course, that's not a very specific date... She lives out here because she doesn't like the town, but usually she doesn't hang around in this area. Could be the infection messing up her sense of direction.."

Marceline thought about the size of the crown, then the much smaller size of the puffin's head. She didn't get it.

A giant gull reared up from behind the labyrinth wall and inspected them with one staring eye.

Gunter pointed. "Ooh! That's one of the Puffin's fears! She's scared of gulls. She's _crazy_." He turned to Simon. "That's a gull, right Professor?"

Simon smiled and said "That is a gull. Good job, Gunther."

Gunther grinned. "The professor is so smart," he whispered to Marceline. "He's teaching me about his weird 'future' animals." He gestured at the gull, which seemed to have lost interest in them.

"Gulls must be pretty exotic to you, huh?" said Marceline, smiling. This kid was cute, and he was right about Simon. It was pretty rude of Bonnibel to call them just AIs. Even if it was true, BMO was an AI, and he was adorable. They weren't "just" anything.

The ground was beginning to slope down. So were the walls, to the point that Marceline could see over some of them. Beyond this part of the labyrinth, the walls sloped down further, into what looked like an ocean. And there was no sign they stopped there. Maybe the ground sloped down under the ocean forever.

Simon and Gunther were walking faster.

"Come on guys, let's go someplace else," said Gunther.

"Yeah, let's hurry," said Simon. To Marceline and Bonnibel, he said "The ocean around here is crawling with pirates."

Marceline looked over the wall again. She couldn't see anyone out there, but that probably didn't mean much. "Another one of Sveinn's fears?"

They turned away from the coast, back to the dry part of the maze. "Actually, it's Santa's," said Simon.

"Santa is afraid of pirates," said Marceline. She couldn't see the connection. Did they even have pirates at the north pole? Pirates seemed like more of a warm weather thing.

"He hates them, right Gunther?" said Simon.

"His mind made this part of the ocean terrifying!" said Gunther, who sounded strangely happy about this.

Marceline turned to Bonnibel. Maybe she had an explanation.

Bonnibel said "Don't look at me. I don't even know what a Santa is."

"We are so celebrating Christmas this winter," said Marceline. Bonnibel probably wouldn't see the point of the religious parts, but she'd always said she was open to experiencing other cultures.

"Huh," said Bonnibel. "Is it anything like Finn and Jake's... uh, their thing?" She kept looking at Simon.

Marceline looked at Simon too. She'd forgotten that Finn and Jake had made a holiday out of feeling sorry for him. People made so many little traditions that only lasted a couple of decades, if they were lucky. It was hard to keep track of them all.

Simon looked over his shoulder to see what they were staring at.

Marceline didn't want to explain Finn and Jake's winter event, so she said "Hey Simon, do you think we'll run into any of your fears out here?" She'd been wondering that since Gunther had explained where they were.

Simon chuckled. "I doubt it. My fears are a little more... metaphysical."

As they rounded the next corner, a human in a suit ran up to them, said "Petrikov, your grant was denied. Also, you're fired," and ran away.

Simon laughed again. Marceline turned around to see where the man had gone, but he seemed to have vanished.

They came to an intersection, with infected circuits on both possible paths. They'd found a few of these, and Bonnibel had claimed that it all led back to the source eventually.

"I think we go... right," said Simon. He looked around at Marceline and added "You see? My fears aren't scary at..." He stopped walking and stared.

"What's the..." Bonnibel began, following him. "Oh. Marcy, maybe you better not come this--"

Marceline pushed past them, annoyed that Bonnibel thought she couldn't handle horror. She lived horror. "Get out of my way."

It was... crumpled clothes? It was a small, curled up body in a blue dress, with black hair and... grey blue skin? "Is that...?"

"I tried to warn you," said Bonnibel.

Gunther peeked around them, and grabbed Simon by the waistcoat and dragged him in the opposite direction.

"Hm?" said Simon, looking around. "Oh. Yes. Let's go... left. Instead of right. Haha, right is... not the right way for us."

Marceline tore her gaze away from the corpse of her younger self and followed them.

"Dude, don't bait the Skógurrin," whispered Gunther to Simon.

"Heh heh..." Simon chuckled. "Heh. Well, I only have my own pessimism to blame."

" _You_?" said Marceline. He'd always been very optimistic, or at least she'd always got that impression of him when the crown hadn't been in charge. The crown had made him cry a lot.

Or maybe he'd just been faking it to keep her from worrying. Maybe he'd been faking a lot of things.

"So!" said Simon, too loudly. "What do you guys think this stuff is?" He ran his hands over what was visible of the the pulsing infections through the foliage.

"That's what we're here to find out," said Bonnibel. "Ice King said something about a thief who stole his crown." She grimaced. "And his heart. Does that sound familiar to you?"

Simon shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The crown hasn't made a memory dump since... since Betty reactivated it. I--"

Gunther turned the corner ahead of them, and screamed.

"Gunther!" said Marceline. She ran forwards, just in time to see a giant plant monster swallow Gunther in one gulp and saunter away. The monster had seven thorny, vine-like limbs, a tulip-shaped core, and didn't look like it was in any hurry to get away from them. Maybe it could gobble them up as easily as it had Gunther.

Simon rolled up his sleeves and prepared to chase after the monster, but Marceline grabbed his waistcoat. "Simon! Are you sure you can fight this thing?" She remembered Simon's original fighting style being more of a running-away style. Even now, he seemed to get by more on trickery and luck than by blasting people with ice directly.

Simon deflated. "No, I can't. It'll probably just eat me along with Gunther and digest us over a few days until we die and respawn elsewhere in the labyrinth. Again." He sounded more resigned than frightened.

Again? "Uh, maybe we better try something different this time," said Marceline. "Any ideas, Bonnibel?"

"We... could just leave him behind?" suggested Bonnibel, a little nervously.

Marceline had half-expected something like that. "Yeah, we're not doing that."

"Well, why not?" said Bonnibel, more confidently than before. "They're just AIs. Simon just said they were gonna respawn! No offence, but we're trying to help a _real_ person here."

Simon took a step backwards. He looked like he had taken some offence.

So had Marceline. "Oh, they don't matter to you? What about me? Do I matter to you? Because even if you don't care if they die, I do, and if you don't respect the guys trapped in the crown, you better at least respect me."

Bonnibel looked thoughtful, reached up with both hands, and vanished.

"What the-- hey!" said Marceline. Bonnibel had left the simulation, just like that. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised, but she'd expected better. Bonnibel was her best friend, probably.

Marceline turned to Simon. "Sorry about her." She raised her voice, knowing that Bonnibel could still hear her. "She wouldn't know compassion if it bit her right on the butt!" She paused, trying to think of something more cutting to say.

"Uh, well, if there's two of us..." began Simon.

Bonnibel reappeared, with a machete in her hand

"Wait, what?" said Marceline. "I thought you left!"

"Only to bring this thing into the simulation," said Bonnibel. "You're so suspicious, Marcy."

"Well, if you'd said something beforehand..." said Marceline, but her mind was on the plant monster again. It was still visible ahead of them, and Simon had said it digested its victims over days. So Gunther was probably still alive, right?

Simon ran on ahead. "Come on! We gotta help Gunther!"

Bonnibel charged at the plant monster, screaming. It ignored her right up until she jumped at its central bulb and split it down the middle. Gunther fell out, covered in digestive juices and groaning, but otherwise unhurt.

The plant screamed and reached for Bonnibel.

"Bonnie, look out!" said Marceline.

Bonnibel hacked away at the vines as they swung at her, then chopped at the bulb until the monster stopped moving.

Marceline smiled. "Nice one."

Simon ran over to Gunther and helped him up. "Gunther, are you okay?"

Gunther hugged him, and then turned to Bonnibel. "Wow! You saved me! I'll bet you had a million better things to do than go chasing after a clumsy blockhead like me!"

"Don't mention it," said Bonnibel. She gave him the machete. "Here. You might need this more than I do."

"Of course we were gonna save you," said Marceline. That was a weird thing Gunther had just said. "You're a part of this quest too."

They started walking again, Gunther looking at the machete in awe. The remains of the plant monster started smoking, and Marceline gave it a wide berth.

Gunther brushed the digestive juice off his skin, and winced. "You guys are really nice. Are you gonna stay here after you complete your quest?"

"I already have somewhere to live, but it'd be cool to come visit sometime," said Marceline. She looked at Bonnibel for confirmation, but Bonnibel had her blank smile on. That wasn't a good sign.

The plants seemed to be thinning a little. Hopefully they'd be out of this place soon, and back to the non-monster part of the maze. That would be a relief.

They rounded a corner, and came face to face with the T-Rex that had chased them earlier. It seemed surprised to see them for a second, and then screeched in their faces.

It was about to chase them all the way back into the forest. Or eat them, if they didn't run right now.

Marceline turned to run, Gunther grunted with effort, and the T-Rex screeched again.

"Come on, guys!" said Gunther. "Hurry!"

Marceline turned back to see the T-Rex clawing at the machete buried in its skull, flew past it as fast she could, and didn't stop running until they were completely out of the forest.

Simon looked back, then leaned against a wall and sighed. "Hey, great job, Gunther."

"Yeah, great job!" Marceline echoed. Machetes weren't great ranged weapons, and what Gunther had done required either a lot of skill, or a lot of luck.

"Now you guys'll let me hang out with you even longer!" said Gunther.

Marceline glanced at Simon. This kid had self-esteem issues. "Come on," she told Gunther. "Let's go find out what's making Simon act so weird."

Gunther followed. "'Simon'...?" he murmured.


End file.
